This invention relates to a method and apparatus for classifying particles.
It has already been proposed in UK patent applications 2211299A and 2230099A to classify particulate material by using, as a classification criterion, the change in dielectric constant of a cavity due to the presence therein of a particle which is to be classified. In each case, the cavity is subjected to a swept frequency range of electromagnetic radiation while the particle is located therein and the signals transmitted by the cavity are detected and analysed. The particles are then classified, and possibly subsequently sorted into fractions, in accordance with the change in dielectric constant of the cavity attributable to the presence of the particle. The change in dielectric constant manifests itself as a change in the resonant frequency of the cavity, as a change in the amplitude of the transmitted signal at resonance.
The electromagnetic radiation is plane polarised and applied to the cavity in a manner giving rise to a specific electric field in the cavity. The electric field exists in a specific distribution and the effect on the dielectric characteristics of the cavity will depend on the shape and orientation of the particle and its relationship to the particular electric field distribution. Thus different particle shapes and/or orientations may give rise to inaccuracies in the classification because of the different relationships with the specific electric field which exists in the cavity.